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Five years without admission: The Ministry of Education and Science proposes new restrictions
Universities want to ban for five years the re-admission of students who were expelled for violating internal rules. Such a proposal by the Ministry of Education and Science is contained in the draft order on amendments to the University Admission Procedure. The restrictions will affect both budget and paid places, but will not affect the underachievers. Experts differ in their assessments: some believe that the measure will help strengthen discipline in educational institutions, while others do not see the point in it. What is the essence of the proposal and what consequences it may lead to — in the material of Izvestia.
The guilty don't belong here
According to the current rules set out in the Federal Law "On Education", the university makes the decision to reinstate a student who has been expelled for misconduct independently. In most cases, they are allowed to return to school, but only on a paid basis. At the same time, there are no restrictions on re—enrolling in the first year in the same or another specialty.
In the 2024/2025 academic year, as previously reported by the Ministry of Education and Science, 492 thousand students were expelled — 10.7% of the total number of students (4.6 million). Most of them, 186,000 people, were expelled for failing grades. A little less — 157 thousand — left on their own. Another 147 thousand — "for other reasons."
For which reasons, it is not specified. It is also unknown how many of them account for disciplinary violations, but it is for this category that the Ministry of Education and Science proposes to tighten the rules. According to the draft order, such students will be banned from enrolling in the same university for five years, including in another specialty. In fact, this will deprive universities of the opportunity to independently decide whether to take back violators of order.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Education and Science, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
For what offenses can you be expelled from the university
Disciplinary measures are provided for violations of the university's charter, internal regulations and dormitory accommodation. All these requirements are fixed in the internal documents of universities. Offenses include, for example, plagiarism, the use of forged documents, falsification of work results and skipping classes without a valid reason.
At the same time, each educational institution has its own criteria. For example, the Higher School of Economics prohibits the undeclared use of artificial intelligence. MSU students may be punished for disrespecting the traditions, history and symbols of the university.
The rules of many universities also oblige students to comply with Russian legislation. Therefore, administrative liability may also be the basis for the penalty. During the protests in Russia, the media repeatedly reported on the expulsion of students for this reason. In 2022, St. Petersburg State University explained that violating the laws of the Russian Federation at the same time means non-compliance with the university charter.
At the same time, deduction is not the only measure of influence. A remark or reprimand may be announced for a misdemeanor. In March last year, the Ministry of Education and Science established rules for the application of such sanctions: one violation cannot be punished repeatedly, and a decision must be made within the prescribed period. According to the department's recommendations, expulsion from the university should be resorted to only when milder measures have failed.
"When choosing a disciplinary measure, the university must take into account the severity of the offense, the reasons and circumstances in which it was committed, the student's previous behavior, his psychophysical and emotional state," the document says.
In practice, deductions are not used in all cases. ITMO University in St. Petersburg said that over the past two academic years, only two people have been expelled on disciplinary grounds.
At the same time, the current rules allow you to recover on a paid basis for five years, and you can re-enroll in the budget on a general basis, in accordance with the admission rules.
Experts assessed the consequences of the project
The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) suggests considering the new mechanism as a preventive measure that "is designed to form a responsible attitude to internal regulations and protect the reputation and order of the university." At the same time, experts pay attention to the disadvantages of the initiative.
— The mechanism affects both students, the university, and the higher education system as a whole. In this case, the student loses not only the place of study, but also the opportunity to return to the same university, even after correcting or reviewing the situation. The university receives additional disciplinary leverage, but the burden on the admissions committee is also increasing, which will have to monitor such cases. For the system, this means the redistribution of applicants between universities. Finally, the question arises as to how justified it is to apply the same five—year measure to all cases, without taking into account the nature of the misconduct and the circumstances of the incident," says Inna Karakchieva, senior researcher at the Central Research Institute of the Presidential Academy.
Zafar Safarov, Chairman of the Student Coordinating Council of the All-Russian Trade Union of Education, also questions the expediency of introducing a new norm at the federal level.
— The main question is: what goal do we want to achieve? If we are talking about isolating a "malicious violator", then why is the deadline set at five years and why is it devoid of flexibility? Expulsion for a disciplinary violation is already an extreme measure of influence. An automatic five—year ban on returning to university, even on a fee-based basis, deprives an educational organization of the autonomy to independently assess whether a student has repented and corrected his behavior," comments Zafar Safarov.
According to the expert, universities should make decisions about the fate of students on their own — without strict regulation from above.
— Formally, this provision does not violate the constitutional right to education in general, as it preserves the opportunity to enroll in another university. However, we see here the risk of disproportionately restricting rights in specific situations. There are unique specialties that are prepared by only one university in the region or in the country: for example, narrow-profile engineering, aviation or medical fields. For a student of such a university, a five—year ban on admission actually means a five-year ban on getting a profession in their chosen field, which is an excessively severe consequence for disciplinary misconduct," says the chairman of the SCS of the Trade Union.
In addition, there are significantly fewer universities in some regions than in the capitals. In such cases, the expelled student will either have to give up his education or move to another city, the expert notes.
— Today, many universities already set reasonable restrictions in their local acts (for example, a ban on reinstatement on the budget, but the possibility of admission to a paid form). The unification of this process through a strict five—year ban on any admission deprives the education system of flexibility and does not take into account the individual circumstances of each specific case," concludes Zafar Safarov.
Experts also believe that when introducing a new rule, it is necessary to clearly define the list of violations for which expulsion is threatened.
Oleg Smolin, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education, told Izvestia that he "does not understand the meaning of the Ministry of Education's proposal," did not find any advantages in it, and therefore hopes that it will be rejected in its current form. In his opinion, if a student re-enrolls in his university in five years, as the ministry currently suggests, "he will not have to finish his studies, but retrain."
"It is unlikely that this will help improve the quality of education,— Smolin stressed.
The MP is confident that the proposed ban will not increase either the number of skilled workers or the number of military personnel.
— We already have 18% of students studying in the system of special professional education, but it is not a fact that a failed lawyer or economist will turn into a qualified welder or machine operator.
Oleg Smolin also noted that if the initiative is related to the need to increase the number of conscripts, the five-year term looks unreasonable. In his opinion, the fighting could end much earlier thanks to the efforts of the Russian military and diplomats.
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